# Is "Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (T. Fisher Unwin, 1902) is identified by: Fisher Unwin, London, 1902. UK T.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902
- 8vo, xv, 301pp, illustrated by H. R. Millar
- Publisher's original red cloth with gilt titling and pictorial gilt blocking to the front board and spine; edges red as reported by dealer cataloguing
- The text first appeared not in this volume but serially in The Strand Magazine, in monthly instalments from April to December 1902, under the general title 'The Psammead, or the Gifts', and was expanded for book publication the same year — so the Unwin volume is the first edition in book form while the Strand serial is the true first appearance of the text, a distinction worth stating on a reference page
- Plate counts differ materially between dealer descriptions (one listing accounts for 45 of 46 black-and-white plates including the frontispiece, others give no count), so the plate complement could not be fixed from the sources consulted; collate plates against the list of illustrations rather than against a dealer's stated total
- Publisher imprint reads T. Fisher Unwin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. Nesbit |
| Publisher | T. Fisher Unwin |
| Year | 1902 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902. 8vo, xv, 301pp, illustrated by H. R. Millar. Publisher's original red cloth with gilt titling and pictorial gilt blocking to the front board and spine; edges red as reported by dealer cataloguing. The text first appeared not in this volume but serially in The Strand Magazine, in monthly instalments from April to December 1902, under the general title 'The Psammead, or the Gifts', and was expanded for book publication the same year — so the Unwin volume is the first edition in book form while the Strand serial is the true first appearance of the text, a distinction worth stating on a reference page. Plate counts differ materially between dealer descriptions (one listing accounts for 45 of 46 black-and-white plates including the frontispiece, others give no count), so the plate complement could not be fixed from the sources consulted; collate plates against the list of illustrations rather than against a dealer's stated total.

## Is this the true first?
UK T. Fisher Unwin, London, 1902 is the true first in book form, and the census is correct. The first American edition is Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1905, likewise with Millar's illustrations — published three years after the London edition, so no simultaneity or precedence question arises and the American edition is a distinct, separately collected first American rather than a rival true first. First volume of the Psammead trilogy, followed by The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Story of the Amulet (1906).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Unwin printings retain the setting, and the title was reissued continuously through the twentieth century. Principal trap is 'first thus': the 1948 Looking Glass Library edition illustrated by J. S. Goodall is offered by dealers as a 'the printed pricet Edition' — it is a mid-century reissue with new illustrations, not the 1902 first. Modern Penguin, Alma and similar reprints are current trade editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Five Children and It* by E. Nesbit a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/five-children-and-it
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.